noveldrama
Chapter 790 790 513 Poor Acting But Useful_3
Chapter 790 790 513 Poor Acting But Useful_3
?Chapter 790: Chapter 513 Poor Acting, But Useful_3 Chapter 790: Chapter 513 Poor Acting, But Useful_3 “The fact that it’s Christina in the car and not the long-rumored Scarlett proves many things. First, the gossip about Frye and Scarlett is mostly false. Second, Frye is someone who holds onto the past. Third, with Christina unmarried and Frye bachelor, whatever happened between them last night, it was the freedom of adults.”
For Yu Fei, this really wasn’t a scandal.
The media mostly made light of it.
And among the players, the incident seemed to merely confirm that Yu Fei was human after all—he could get upset after a loss and needed an outlet just like anyone else.
What mattered most was the Western Conference final Game Three tomorrow night.
The SuperSonics aimed for two straight wins, which would give them a 3-1 lead. At worst, they needed to hang on to at least one home game.
A 2-2 tie would simply reset the best-of-seven series to the beginning, which wasn’t unacceptable.
That afternoon
Yu Fei relayed to Tyronn Lue his perceptions of subtle changes in the officiating at the Staples Center during the last two games.
Lue took the information shared by Yu Fei very seriously.
It was no secret that the SuperSonics had been getting more calls than their opponents at the Lakers’ home court over the last two games. However, since the free-throw advantage wasn’t significant, and because the officiating wasn’t the reason the SuperSonics were losing, the coaching staff had overlooked a key issue.
Even if it weren’t the Lakers, any average team playing at home in the playoffs would usually benefit from some degree of partiality.
But the referees had been almost balanced at the Staples Center, and from the number of free throws, there seemed to be a slight favor toward the SuperSonics.
If this was the case when they returned to their home court, wouldn’t their advantage in officiating become even more obvious?
The leniency of home-court officiating is the most vital home-court advantage.
Having the home court advantage means getting more opportunities at free throws on offense, and being able to be more assertive defensively.
The greatest challenge posed by the current Lakers team is the strength of their core players.
Kobe and LeBron combined are a matchup nightmare. Even Yu Fei on his own isn’t as much of a threat as they are together.
Kobe is in red-hot form, while James alternates between being invisible and performing normally. Just by playing normally, he shut down Durant. The Lakers’ offensive firepower allows James to focus on defense, while the SuperSonics need Durant to score.
Lue didn’t have much confidence in Durant’s ability to adjust to James’s defense as the series progressed.
The insights provided by Yu Fei sparked new strategic thoughts in Lue’s mind.
Even though the SuperSonics were built on offense, using the officiating to their advantage and increasing the defensive pressure on the Lakers could be a good countermeasure if they were pushed to the brink.
Lue immediately called for a coaching staff meeting.
Even though Yu Fei provided the tip, the coaching team still had to review the games to confirm whether the officiating matched the intelligence.
That afternoon, the SuperSonics went through their usual practice.
But within the team, morale wasn’t high.
A large part of this was due to the troubling public opinion stating “Big Fei did his best, his teammates belong in the CBA.”
Sentiments similar to this were all too familiar for Durant, while the rest hadn’t heard enough of it.
Most of the players usually stayed away from media narratives, but now, they were the keystones in the playoffs—if they couldn’t perform, it would be tough for the SuperSonics to win.
Over the years, innumerable media camps have leaned in favor of Yu Fei.
At the beginning, Yu Fei had Quint DiMio set up his own media company for public relations and promotion. As Reebok grew, and with his increasing list of achievements, he had now positioned himself as a contender for the GOAT title.
Many of the outlets that once spoke ill of him have since switched sides.
Yu Fei can oversee his own media companies and influence friends in the media with whom he has a direct connection, but he can’t sway those with an overwhelming sense of self-importance, those who put on a loyal facade, and would love to put each teammate who’s ever wronged him on military trial. They often have their own agendas.
It looks as though they’re defending Yu Fei’s honor, but antagonizing his teammates aligns perfectly with the aspirations of the vast majority of Yu Fei fans.
If mocking one of Yu Fei’s teammates gains an uncountable amount of traffic from Yu Fei fans, who would turn it down?
The spirit of truth-seeking in traditional journalism is long dead; spreading news that’s ‘hot’ is the preferred tactic of the fourth estate.
This is the nightmare that comes hand in hand with Yu Fei’s empire.
But Yu Fei isn’t planning to apologize for it.
At most, he’s willing to express regret, but apologize? On what grounds? “Sorry guys, my 40+10+10 last night wasn’t enough to lead you to victory, and you guys got trashed by the media because of that, is that genuinely very regrettable?”
Yu Fei chooses to train on his own.
The Furtado Center seems calm, with everyone busy with their own things.
Until Brandon Roy, in his training gear, comes to the sideline and says to Yu Fei, “I’m ready for a 5 on 5 scrimmage, what about you?”
All eyes turned to him at once.
“Really, Brandon?”
“You’re making a comeback? How come there was no news before?”
“Oh my God, this is the best news!”
Everyone seems happy for Roy.
But Yu Fei isn’t optimistic; as they say, if Roy were ready to come back, he couldn’t possibly be without prior notice.
“Show me your check-up report,” Yu Fei says, “and the doctor’s signature permitting you to participate in a 5v5 scrimmage.”
Roy seems to be trying to brush it off: “That’s not important, what’s important is I’m standing here, ready.”
In a flash, Roy pulls the pin, angering Yu Fei.
“What the fuck kind of joke is this? You’re ready? Is that an excuse?” Yu Fei yells, “Without updated medical reports, without the doctor’s approval, you cannot come back!”
“I’m ready.”
“You’re ready?!” Yu Fei asks with a sarcastic laugh, pointing at Durant and saying, “Not too long ago, that asshole promised me he’d become the 2001 Kobe, claiming he was ready, but how about last night? He played like a pile of stinking dog shit, LeBron guarded him so tight he could barely breathe!”
Everyone was shocked; Yu Fei, who had kept mum about Durant’s performance since the end of last night’s game, suddenly flipped.
“And these assholes!” Yu Fei begins to spray everyone, “We barely won one game in Los Angeles, and they’re already not taking the Lakers seriously! Everyone is acting as if we have the win in the bag, the most arrogant team I’ve ever been in. Last night’s defeat was what we deserved; we aren’t worthy of the win! Because our team is full of idiots who think they’re ready like you!”
Roy seems on the edge of losing it, his lips trembling as he fires back: “What about you? Do you think you’re not at fault at all? Don’t you think too highly of yourself? You’re the most fucking arrogant person in Seattle, who else but you considers themselves emperor? You’re the fool who can’t see clearly!”
“You’re fucking right!” Yu Fei says with infuriated laughter, “I am the fool because I only scored 40 points last night instead of 50, because my goddamn 50 points weren’t there to win us the game, because I couldn’t carry you morons to victory. Now there are a million asshole reporters out there questioning how many of you are even NBA-caliber players! I’m so sorry, this loss might cause some of you to be out of a job next season! But before you fucking lose your job (pointing at Roy), at least don’t let this cripple think that without his help, we can’t beat the damn Lakers!”
Is the problem solved? No.
Is the pressure gone? No, it’s even bigger than before.
But speaking out is more important than anything else.
Chris Bosh nods and says, “If we have to rely on someone who’s not entirely fit to beat the Lakers, we’d better retire.”
“Exactly, I don’t agree with everything Frye said today, but the last part is right,” Larry Hughes says, “We don’t need cripples.”
Inside the Furtado Center, the SuperSonics quickly reach a consensus.
Even though they can’t stand each other right now, especially those who have some prejudices against Yu Fei after the poor performance in the second game, Yu Fei isn’t wrong; they don’t need a cripple’s help to beat the Lakers.
“OK!” Roy says furiously, “Remember what you said, don’t come begging to me when the time comes! Even if you kneel before me, I won’t come back!”
Then Roy leaves.
“He did that on purpose, right?”
Kwame Brown has seen through it.
“Exactly,” Yu Fei says, “His acting is so lousy.”
However, the rest of the team, besides Brown, are all fooled by Roy’s terrible acting.
Isn’t that a terrifying thought?
It’s time to reassess the average IQ of this bunch.